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'Do-nothing Congress' likely to again do nothing about gun violence (editorial column)

Richard Martinez

Richard Martinez talks about his son Christopher during a memorial service for the victims and families of the May 23 rampage near the University of California, Santa Barbara. The suspect stabbed three people to death at his apartment before shooting and killing three more in a crime spree through a nearby neighborhood.
(AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Last Friday morning, May 23, after visiting a local school, Rep. Suzanne Bonamici dropped by the Hillsboro Argus office to meet with three of us editors.

The 1st District Congresswoman opened a binder and went through a checklist of legislative items she said went counter to the public perception of a "do-nothing Congress."

People should know Congress is making progress on a number of fronts, she said, including a financing mechanism for local water infrastructure projects; restoring benefits for the long-term unemployed; and increased funding for weather forecasting.

View full sizeRep. Suzanne Bonamici, D-Ore., speaks with students during a visit to Forest Grove High School in March. Laura Frazier/Forest Grove Leader

The Beaverton Democrat was particularly upbeat about introducing a bill aimed at reducing the flow of annual reports to Congress by adding a sunset clause that eliminates the reporting requirement after five years unless Congress decides otherwise. This way, she says, federal agencies have to justify the time and expense involved in preparing and distributing more than 4,000 reports, many of them arcane and lightly read, if at all.

But I took the opportunity to raise an entirely different issue. What are the chances the do-nothing Congress might actually do something to prevent gun violence?

Not good, Bonamici conceded. Though polls show most Americans support universal background checks, she said, gun-control legislation continues to be stymied by the gun lobby's influence on Capitol Hill and cash donations that fuel many members' re-election campaigns.

"I support the Second Amendment," Bonamici was quick to say, "but not without restrictions. I would hope we can do things without infringing on people's Second Amendment rights."

Such as? Providing high school students with greater access to counselors, Bonamici said. Presumably, that would help address mental health issues among youth. Practically speaking, focusing on the link between gun crimes and mental health may be the only area of agreement among members of Congress, which has failed to act despite unrelenting mass shootings at schools, airports, military bases and the workplace.

Keep in mind our conversation with Bonamici came on the same day that a 22-year-old man in a California college town became the latest despondent, dejected gunman to go on a rampage.

That evening, the man fatally stabbed three students at UC Santa Barbara, then killed three more with a gun and wounded 13 others before taking his own life. All this despite treatment for psychiatric care and signs of deteriorating mental health that left many of us wondering, yet again, how it is that an angry, unstable individual is able to legally purchase semiautomatic guns and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.

Richard Martinez, father of one of the Santa Barbara victims, asked through tears, "Have we learned nothing? These things are going to continue until somebody does something, so where the hell is the leadership?"

"I understand this is a complicated problem," Martinez said in an interview. "I have friends who are in the NRA. I grew up on a farm. I hunted. I killed animals. I understand guns. . . . But assault rifles and semi-automatic weapons? There is no need for those except in war. A young man living in an urban area does not need these guns."

Now, I certainly don't expect that Bonamici, as a new member of Congress finishing out her first full term and seeking re-election this year, is going to be even a minor player in achieving gun control legislation. Not when senior lawmakers with more clout have repeatedly failed to act, even after the slaughter of 20 children in Newtown and the attempted assassination of former Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

Sadly, these mass killings just seem to be an accepted part of life in America.

As The Washington Post's Chris Cillizza wrote this week: "The simple fact is that tragedies involving guns do not move the political needle — whether you are talking about public opinion or the actions of politicians — in any meaningful way."

Is it too much to dream of a day when Bonamici visits the Argus to praise a package of gun control reforms passed by a "do-something" Congress?